Motion Made To Boot Broadway Baptist from SBC

The Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention held in Indianapolis is underway this afternoon and a couple more "conservative" motions were made.

Bill Sanderson from North Carolina moved that Broadway Baptist Church of Ft. Worth would not be in friendly cooperation with the SBC.

AND

A motion was made to require educational institutions receiving Cooperative Program funds to teach creation science as the correct understanding of the origin of life.

In other news, Johnny Hunt of FBC Woodstock, Georgia was elected President of the SBC on the first ballot with 52.94.

FBC Woodstock was named the 30th most influential church in America by the Church Report in 2007. According to one blog, Hunt endorsed Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee from the pulpit of FBC Woodstock on the Sunday before the Georgia Presidential Primary. You can read about that here.

UPDATED: The motion to boot Broadway was approved for consideration for report back to the 2009 annual meeting. See Baptist Press.

Broadway Baptist Pastor Brett Younger To Resign

NEWS RELEASE

Embattled pastor of Broadway Baptist Church quits

April 17, 2008 Fort Worth, Texas

After months of controversy, and survival of an unprecedented 1/3 to 2/3 vote to vacate the pulpit, Brett Younger is resigning as pastor of Broadway Baptist Church. He is taking a position at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Brett Younger's last Sunday will be June 8.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the story as well below:

FORT WORTH -- After surviving months of bitter infighting over the philosophical direction of his church, the Rev. Brett Younger, senior pastor at Broadway Baptist Church, is stepping down to work on the faculty of a divinity school in Atlanta.

Younger, 47, is going to work at McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta. Members of the church leadership were told about his resignation earlier this week. His last day at Broadway Baptist will be June 8.

"I am pleased at this opportunity to be part of an outstanding faculty," Younger said. "I feel like the Spirit is leading me to this new ministry. I am also sad at leaving Broadway."

Kathy Madeja, chairwoman of the deacon board, said Younger will announce his resignation to the congregation on Sunday and that her board will meet Monday to consider the next steps for hiring a new head pastor. Madeja had nothing but praise for Younger, who originally came to work at the church in 2001.

"Brett has worked tirelessly as the pastor of Broadway Baptist Church," Madeja said. "Brett and I have worked closely through some difficult times at Broadway. I have a great appreciation for his love of Broadway and its ministries."

Younger's announcement comes about a month after he survived a vote to "vacate the pulpit" after months of unrest over his leadership, including a debate over how to show gay members in a pictorial directory.

Broadway has a long history of being a leader in moderate Baptist circles. Near downtown, it has about 1,500 members.

The Broadway Baptist Church Controversy: Finale

The ongoing Controversy at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth has made its way from the world wide web and blogosphere into several secular newspapers.

First, an article titled Broadway Baptist group seeks ouster of pastor written by Max Baker appeared in the Forth Worth Star-Telegram.

Also, The Christian Post has an article titled, Baptist Conflict Intensifies with Call to Oust Pastor.

Today, the Dallas Morning-News printed an article authored by Sam Hodges titled Members of Fort Worth's Broadway Baptist Church call for pastor's firing. Here's a snippet:

Deacons of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth are recommending that an anniversary pictorial directory have no family photos, an effort to defuse a controversy over whether gay couples should be included.

But troubles for the moderate Baptist congregation are mounting, with some members calling for the firing of Senior Minister Brett Younger, saying he has mishandled the directory issue and led the church in too liberal a direction on homosexuality and theology.

And the conclusion:

Dr. Younger and the deacons had asked Broadway members not to debate the church's troubles in the press, and they have almost unanimously obliged. But the latest developments, including statements for and against Dr. Younger, have made their way onto Web sites and blogs.

More and more, church fights are playing out on the Internet, said Quentin Schultze, a professor of communication arts and sciences at Calvin College in Michigan.

"It tends to make it more difficult to come to a peaceful agreement," he said.

Finally, Ken Sury has a short column on the website of the Waco-Tribune. Here it is:

The religion blog on the Dallas Morning News has this entry about some members of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth calling for the dismissal of pastor Brett Younger over a pictorial directory.

Younger, a Baylor alum who previously pastored at Lake Shore Baptist Church, is scheduled to speak at Chapel at Baylor on Feb. 27. He also is the author of the book Who Moved My Pulpit? and writes ongoing columns for Baptists Today and the online editions of the Baptist Standard.

The two bloggers who took this Controversy public in the blogosphere have also weighed in:

How are we going to act? by The Whited Sepulchre (spouse of Broadway staffer)

The Battle for Broadway by J. Coleman Baker (Broadway member)

The Whited Sepulchre has decided to stop the chitter-chatter and stay silent on Broadway issues for the time being. J. Coleman Baker of ProgressiveBaptist.net is not taking that vow of silence.

He writes:

Yesterday, after reading The Whited Sepulchre’s statement that he would stop blogging about Broadway Baptist for a while, I was tempted to follow his lead. But then, I discovered that The Fort Worth Star-Telegram had printed an online article referencing my site. Then this morning there was this article in print and on the web. Needless to say, the terribly painful news about BBC is now out in the open, and I see no reason to stop blogging.

Those on the other side think that if we fire Younger, we will be on the path to being the historic, conservative church they want. That is not the case. If they succeed in firing Younger, we will still have all the same questions, conflicts, and problems that we currently face.

My hope, and the hope of a vast number of BBC members, is that rather than focusing on the pastor, we would begin to focus on the matter of direction and future. Let’s begin a process of determining what kind of church BBC will be. Let’s all agree to enter a process of dialouge and decision. Let’s listen to each other, pray with each other, and move forward in God’s hope.

And in the end, let’s agree to respect the decision of the majority of the church. And if we don’t like the kind of church Broadway comes out as on the other side, let us gracefully exit.

A couple of notes: J.C. Baker's reasoning behind his decision to continue blogging is weird to say the least. It was he who helped publicize the "terribly painful news about BBC." Once folks like Robert Saul took their complaints to the web and once folks like Baker and The White Sepulchre responded to those complaints in the blogosphere, it was inevitable that secular newspapers, Christian publications and other bloggers such as myself would report on that conflict.

The solution that the deacons reached sounds utterly ridiculous. No family photos? Will the infants and toddlers have to pose ALONE for the church directory as well? If photographed alone, I suspect some families will take up an entire page!

More pictures = more money for Olan Mills, I guess.

At least someone comes out on top in this Controversy.

Such an odd compromise is only a temporary solution to the bigger problems that Broadway obviously faces. Read J.C. Baker's post. I think he understand that. He writes that Broadway needs to, through dialogue and discussion, "begin the process of determining what kind of church BBC will be." Sounds like a wise guy. Calm discussion and honest dialogue are always preferred over fighting and bickering. And at least both sides of this controversy are committed to seeing Broadway remain a Baptist church. The last thing Baptist life needs is another historic church ashamed of actually being Baptist.

Please see: The 5-Part series on The Broadway Baptist Church Directory Controversy

Part 1: The Broadway Baptist Church Directory Controversy (11/16/07)
Part 2: Broadway Baptist Postpones Directory Decision (12/2/07)

Part 3: More Drama & Division @ Broadway Baptist Church (2/9/08)
Part 4: Follow Up On Recent Broadway Baptist Controversy (2/12/08)
Part 5: The Broadway Baptist Church Controversy: Finale (2/13/08)

Follow-Up On Recent Broadway Baptist Controversy

Please see my original post on the latest controversy at Broadway Baptist Church here.

Below is a follow-up to that post.

Around 220 members have released a Response to the newly formed "Friends for the Future of Broadway" which I discussed in my previous blog.

Here's the letter posted from J.C. Baker's website:

We are deeply saddened about the letter mailed this week by a group calling themselves “Friends for the Future of Broadway.” Saddened because we fundamentally disagree with this course of action, but equally saddened because the letter sent by Robert Saul is replete with inaccuracies and things about our church and about our pastor that are just not true.

We believe the primary question is:

What type of church do we believe God wants Broadway to be?

There is room for discussion on this issue. There should be debate about this critically important question. There is not room, however, for actions that lead to mistrust and miscommunication in that discussion. This must cease. There is room for grace and love within our diversity. This must increase.

We are committed to the path of peace and harmony and goodwill. We ask you to join us in those high principles. We must not give up on a Broadway that reflects these values and principles.

On another note, I'd like to make a comment about one of the criticisms hurled at Broadway pastor Brett Younger.

Below is one reason given by the Friends group to "Vacate the Pulpit"

(d) Invitation to preach extended to a very controversial theologian
The Pastor extended an invitation to preach from the pulpit to a very controversial theologian, Dr. Marcus J. Borg, whose published theological views are well outside Broadway's own historical moderate Baptist heritage based on timeless core foundational doctrines of the Christian faith. While Broadway has always appreciated diverse theological perspectives, the pulpit has been considered the source of Christian proclamation. This invitation was extended while the members were still struggling with the church directory crisis created by the Pastor. The Pastor withdrew the invitation to preach from the pulpit, but only upon the strong objections of several church members.

According to a blogger who is a member at Broadway, the invitation to Marcus Borg to speak at Broadway Baptist was scheduled well over one year in advance and not during the church directory controversy as the Friends group claims.

The same blogger who took the latest episode of the Broadway controversy to the blogosphere had this to say about Borg:

First of all, I believe that outside of various primitive tribal enclaves, Dr. Borg's controversial theological views could now be classified as "Mainstream Protestant". Second, I don't believe that there's any such thing as a "historical moderate Baptist heritage". When Broadway and several other churches split off from the Southern Baptists, all sorts of jokes were made about "Moderate Baptist" being a contradiction in terms. (My Baptist heritage includes a lot of people healing cripples in the gospel tents of Mississippi.) Our "historic moderate Baptist heritage" is whatever we made up about twenty years ago. It's still a work in progress.

Outside of various primitive tribal enclaves? This guy is off his rocker but we'll let that go.

I read Marcus Borg regularly over at ON FAITH. Borg is an excellent writer and an incredible communicator. With that said, all will tell you that Broadway is a diverse church with multiple constituencies. It's not everyday that you find a CBF/Texas Baptist church with SBC seminary employees and gay couples as members!

However, Marcus Borg's theology is well outside of Broadway's moderate Baptist heritage. I don't see how a church that affirmed the 1963 version of the Baptist Faith & Message only 8 years ago could argue that Borg's theology is compatible with their own? How much in common could a church and its members share with liberal theologian Marcus Borg if they can't even figure out whether to allow gay couples to pose together and smile pretty for Olan Mills???

Borg is a well respected theologian. But he is a well respected liberal theologian who does not believe that Jesus Christ was bodily raised from the dead. Last time I checked, a denial of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ was not a position held by any "moderate Baptist."

Inviting Marcus Borg to fill the pulpit during the Easter season seems in poor taste.

But that's just the opinion of a young "moderate" Baptist who actually does take the Bible seriously but not always literally.

More Drama & Division At Broadway Baptist Church

***This is an UPDATED Version****

Back in November, Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth made national news. A new pictorial directory was supposed to be part of Broadway's 125th birthday celebration. However, controversy erupted over three gay couples that asked to have their pictures included. Questions such as whether allowing the portraits to appear in the directory would be an endorsement of homosexuality were raised by some in the congregation. You can read more about that here and here and here for coverage from EthicsDaily.com

Early in December, Sam Hodges of the Dallas Morning-News reported that Broadway Baptist had decided to postpone any decision about whether to include the gay couples in the church directory until the deacons make a recommendation on February 24. In a prepared statement, Kathy Madeja, deacon chair, stated that: "We will continue to discuss this issue together as a church family. We do not want to rush to make a decision, but rather to continue to listen to each other and for God's leading for our church."

Apparently, not everyone has been listening and the situation seems to have exploded.

J. Coleman Baker, Broadway member and author of ProgressiveBaptist.Net, posted on his blog following the January 27th service that Broadway pastor Brett Younger had been offered $50,000 (by a church member representing a secret committee) to resign as pastor by the end of February. Baker's post was confirmed by this blog.

***Baker removed his post which snippets can still be found here, a few posts down.

This blogger (who notes that his wife is a youth minister at Broadway) reports that a group called Friends for the Future of Broadway has been formed. They have a website which is password protected. According to FFB, when a petition with 100 member signatures is obtained a special meeting "to vote to vacate the pulpit" must be called by the Deacon Chair in according with Broadway's By-Laws. Here is a statement released by FFB (I indexed it here):

Dear Fellow Broadway Members,

A sizable, informal, intergenerational group of Broadway Baptist Church members has come together recently. We initially met because of a common uneasiness over the multiple divisive issues that have been before the church. This group expanded over the past weeks, and after much prayer, discussion and research, we decided the congregation must determine our church’s future.

Many members are concerned about the general unrest and distrust that has been caused by having one issue after another during the last eighteen months degenerate into polarization, turmoil, tension, discord, divisiveness, loss of membership, and more importantly, the loss of trust and confidence in our pastor’s spiritual and administrative leadership.

We decided we had no choice but to move ahead and seek the signatures of more than 100 members to call a special meeting of the congregation to “vacate the pulpit.”

The church Bylaws have procedures to follow if the congregation desires to remove the pastor: Section 5.10 provides that “any church officer . . . may be removed by the Members whenever, in their judgment, the best interest of the Church would be served thereby.” Section 4.04 provides that “Special meetings of the Members . . . shall be called by the Chair if he/she is requested in writing to do so by at least 100 Members.”

We are now gathering those signatures and will submit them to the Chair of the Deacons so she can call the special meeting to vote to “vacate the pulpit.”

Our group, Friends for the Future of Broadway (the Friends Group), was not a participant in the events of January 24-30 wherein the Pastor was approached by a church member who proposed that the Pastor's voluntary resignation would be in his and the church's best interest because of the turmoil within the church. The church member who met with the Pastor is not a member of the Friends Group. The Friends Group was not a participant in the pledging of any funds mentioned in connection with the church member's meeting with the Pastor. The Friends Group had no advance knowledge of the meeting with the Pastor. The Friends Group was advised of the meeting after it had taken place.

We believe that our actions and plans are consistent with scripture and the church’s bylaws. It is with authority from these two sources that we are proceeding.

We are deeply concerned about our pastor, his future, and his family. We are equally concerned about our church. Our prayer is that God’s presence be in our midst as we all sincerely seek God’s leadership for Broadway, the church we all love.

Sincerely,

Robert Saul
Spokesperson for Friends for the Future of Broadway

P. S. You may email me at info@ffbroadway.com with questions and suggestions.

Over at ProgressiveBaptist.net, J. Coleman Baker has posted several more snippets from the letter sent out by the Friends for the Future of Broadway Baptist Church. Here they are.

"When Dr. Brett Younger came to Broadway seven years ago, we were a divided church and desperately needed a pastor who could bring healing and unity. Today our church is more divided, and has some 26% fewer people attending Sunday School, than when Dr. Younger arrived. In addition, the Pastor has neglected Broadway’s own historic moderate Baptist theological heritage. And in the course of his pastorate the Pastor has abused Broadway’s policy and practice of self-governance toward his own ends."

"These members have the courage to make a stand, with the aim of rescuing their church and its future. With prayerful consideration of God’s direction, they have decided that it is time for the congregation to have the opportunity to determine the church’s future, by being able to vote on 'vacating the pulpit.'"

"Members of this group, Friends for the Future of Broadway (Friends Group) believe that the church should continue to welcome all kinds of people. They believe every church should minister to the poor. Broadway has been a leader in mission outreach to the underprivileged, and the Friends Group wants this to continue."

Baker, a Progressive Baptist and supporter of the Pastor and Staff, provides commentary here.

You can read the entire list of the group's concerns here. Below are a few of the reasons to "Vacate the Pulpit" given at the Friends website. Read that full list here.

1. The Pastor has demonstrated ineffective spiritual and administrative leadership by allowing, in the last year and a half alone, one issue/project after another (such as those listed below) to deteriorate into extreme divisiveness within the congregation, resulting in significant loss of membership.

(c) The picturing/listing of homosexual members as couples in the 125th anniversary pictorial directory.
The Pastor stopped the production of the directory because he objected to prior church policy and practice of not having homosexual persons pictured and listed as couples, and attempted to substitute his own format for the directory, without authorization from the Board of Deacons and the congregation. (With respect to homosexuals, Broadway has been a "welcoming" church, but not an "affirming" church [i.e., Broadway has not endorsed/affirmed homosexual practice]. The problem the Pastor created was that Broadway was perceived to be on the verge of endorsing or affirming homosexual practice by picturing and listing homosexuals as couples.)

(i) This stance eventually resulted in embarrassing adverse local and national publicity for Broadway, risked our church's being expelled from the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Tarrant Baptist Association, jeopardized the employment of church members (including staff) who are employed by other Christian organizations (one church member has already lost such employment), jeopardized the business of members whose work is with other Christian churches, and jeopardized some of Broadway's mission projects.

(ii) The Pastor publicly stated, long before the congregation became aware of the subject, that Broadway was an "affirming" church. In a story originally published in 2004 and republished December 12, 2007

(d) Invitation to preach extended to a very controversial theologian
The Pastor extended an invitation to preach from the pulpit to a very controversial theologian, Dr. Marcus J. Borg, whose published theological views are well outside Broadway's own historical moderate Baptist heritage based on timeless core foundational doctrines of the Christian faith. While Broadway has always appreciated diverse theological perspectives, the pulpit has been considered the source of Christian proclamation. This invitation was extended while the members were still struggling with the church directory crisis created by the Pastor. The Pastor withdrew the invitation to preach from the pulpit, but only upon the strong objections of several church members.

B. Departure from Broadway's own historical moderate Baptist theological heritage

1. The Pastor has taken Broadway, without authorization from the Deacons or the congregation, far away from its own historical moderate Baptist heritage based on timeless core foundational doctrines of the Christian faith. This is in spite of the fact that in October 2000, the congregation re-affirmed its adoption of the "Baptist Faith and Message," which it had originally adopted in 1963. Also, the Pastor's Job Description requires that he be "guided by…historic Baptist principles..." and have "significant … appreciation for Baptist polity, theology, and history."

2. The Pastor has neglected Broadway's association and cooperation with Tarrant Baptist Association, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, even though, in its Bylaws, the Church "recognizes the obligations of mutual counsel and cooperation which are common among Baptist churches of like faith and practice."

3. The Pastor has encouraged the teaching of the "emerging paradigm" view of Christianity in Broadway Baptist Church as an acceptable and legitimate alternative to traditional Christianity, even though:

(a) The "emerging paradigm" view of Christianity is in direct conflict with Broadway's historical practice of moderate Christianity, more specifically as described in the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message, which was reaffirmed by congregational vote as recently as 2000, and

(b) The "emerging paradigm" view of Christianity is quite divisive. Marcus Borg's own theology posits two paradigms throughout the Christian world and within local congregations: the "earlier paradigm" and the "emerging paradigm." This presumes an ongoing conflict and continual division within the local congregation. Borg himself has said, "Both [traditional Christianity and the emerging paradigm] are present in the churches of North America today, deeply dividing Christians."

Note: The "emerging paradigm" is described by the controversial theologian, Marcus Borg, in his most recent book, The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith by Marcus J. Borg, (2003) HarperSanFrancisco. Click here for an analysis of the "emerging paradigm" and a critique of Marcus J. Borg's book.

4. Many feel that Broadway's historic position as a moderate Baptist Church is being undermined by the pastor. Several years ago, after the takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention by fundamentalists, Broadway chose not to become a part of that movement. The Friends Group is opposed to the pastor's leadership away from our moderate Baptist heritage.

I don't know whether the newly formed Friends group will be successful in their attempt to "vacate the pulpit" or fire pastor Brett Younger. One thing for sure is that Baptist life has taken a turn for the nasty in Fort Worth. Both sides have taken this thing to the internet. During the initial directory controversy, both sides went straight to the blogosphere. And now, the Anti-Younger crowd has created a website for church members and a few Pro-Younger folks have headed straight to the Baptist Blogosphere.

In that regard, Broadway seems to be following in the footsteps of Bellevue Baptist Church of Cordova, Tennessee, First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida, Montrose Baptist Church of Rockville, Maryland, Germantown Baptist Church of Germantown, Tennessee and a handful of other prominent Baptist congregations that have publicized their church conflict via the blogosphere and world wide web.

Other Baptist churches that have gone public with their drama include Jerry Sutton's Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., First Baptist Church of Daytona, Florida, First Baptist Church of Colleyville, Texas and First Baptist Church of Raytown, Missouri. In the cases of FBC Daytona, pastor David Cox resigned after having been attacked for an expensive sanctuary renovation. Sam Shaw, pastor of Germantown Baptist Church resigned due in part to his unsuccessful proposal to shift the church's governance to elder-led instead of congregation-led. As Brian Kaylor reported for EthicsDaily.com last summer, in many of these lay-led conflicts, dissident members established web sites to explain concerns and garner support which often led to coverage from local and national media.

Todd Rhoades, who writes about conflict and other church leadership issues at www.mondaymorninginsight.com, has noted that while such church conflicts are not new, the technology has changed the nature of the fights. According to Rhoades this "trend is not going to go away, my fear is that this could happen to any church or pastor regardless of the situation."

What makes Broadway's situation interesting is that most of these nationally publicized church conflicts have been at large Southern Baptist congregations (i.e. Two Rivers, FBC Jax, Bellevue). However, Broadway is a well-known, historic moderate Baptist church. And the group that is trying to oust the pastor is accusing the pastor of neglecting "Broadway's historic moderate Baptist theological heritage."

As I previously noted, Broadway Baptist is one of the most historic congregations in the Baptist General Convention of Texas. BBC was the home to John Claypool from 1971-1976, Welton Gaddy from 1977-1983 and Cecil Sherman from 1985 to 1982. Throughout the SBC Controversy, Sherman was one of the most outspoken voices on the moderate side. He helped form the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and became the CBF's first Executive-Director in 1992.

Personally, I have no sympathies for any church faction trying to oust their pastor. My childhood church, First Baptist Church of Lyons, Georgia split after a group of rather uneducated fundamentalists forced the Pastor, Music Minister and Youth Minister to resign. At least Broadway knows that their current conflict has something to do with homosexuality. Six years later and I still am unsure what my church's miniature fundy takeover was really about (other than power and control).

**UPDATE: All files were saved from the Friend's website and hosted here.

Broadway Baptist Postpones Directory Decision

From Sam Hodges of the Dallas Morning-News....

A prominent Fort Worth church continues to struggle with how to handle photographs of gay members in a pictorial directory that's to be part of its 125th anniversary celebrations.

Broadway Baptist Church has debated whether to include gay couples, or gay people as individuals but not as couples, or whether to omit all individual and family photos.

Members were to vote today, following morning worship. But after meeting for about an hour, they postponed any decision until deacons make a recommendation on Feb. 24.

"We will continue to discuss this issue together as a church family," said Kathy Madeja, deacon chair, in a prepared statement. "We do not want to rush to make a decision, but rather to continue to listen to each other and for God's leading for our church."

Read the rest here.

I hesitate to opine in this post. My mere coverage of The Broadway Controversy resulted in a Texas Baptist pastor comparing Big Daddy Weave to "dung" and accused me of supporting a "preversion of the Gospel."

Apparently slanderers are not the best spellers.

Nonetheless, Broadway's decision to postpone seems smart. Not much good can come of a hasty church-wide vote. However, Broadway is in a lose-lose here. One way or the other this directory controversy won't end well for everyone. And I seriously doubt that one simple vote will solve this matter completely. After receiving so much publicity and attention from inside and outside of the Baptist world, I suspect Broadway will ultimately suffer some degree of fall out from their decision and perhaps a bit of Baptist fighting will ensue....

Bob Allen of EthicsDaily.com has the best coverage of The Broadway Controversy here.

The Broadway Baptist Church Directory Controversy

An interesting story coming out of Fort Worth concerning Broadway Baptist Church (BBC is the former home of Stephen Shoemaker of Myers Park in Charlotte):

Gay couples trigger debate at church

By MAX B. BAKER
Star-Telegram staff writer

FORT WORTH -- A new pictorial directory was supposed to be part of Broadway Baptist Church's 125th birthday celebration.

Established in 1882 near the infamous Hell's Half Acre, where gamblers and prostitutes once thrived, the church wanted to sing the praises of its missions and its members by publishing a book that included information about its programs and a directory featuring yearbook-style photographs of its members and families.

But since three gay couples asked to have their pictures included, Broadway Baptist has been involved in an increasingly divisive struggle over whether allowing the portraits to appear would be an endorsement of homosexuality by the congregation.

"Baptists are not quiet people. We're dealing with a difficult issue on which we have different opinions that we're not afraid to share," said the Rev. Brett Younger, the church's pastor. "We disagree, but we do so respectfully."

The church will vote in December on a proposal to allow gay members to appear in individual photos, but not as couples. The directory is scheduled to be distributed next year.

Church members have been reluctant to talk about the dispute. Seen as a moderate church within the Baptist denomination, Broadway has about 1,500 members, with about 600 attending Sunday services.

"I think we are a family trying to work out our problems," said Kathy Madeja, chairman of the board of deacons. "I think we are Baptists being Baptists. We are not the only church struggling with this issue." Read the rest here.

A blogger named Scott Jones who is familiar with BBC offers a few criticisms here

And a member of Broadway Baptist Church offers a few thoughts over at Jesus Politics.

Regardless of the wording used in any articles you've read on this subject, very few Broadway Baptist Church members seem to "ride the fence" on this issue.

We're a diverse bunch of people.

Many members are openly opposed to gay inclusion. Other members want to welcome them as they would any other Christians. (I honestly don't think that any gay couples were requesting to have their pictures taken "as a couple"....as I understand it, they merely showed up like any other family. And were surprised by the controversy.)

Cecil Sherman, an ex-Broadway pastor, once ended a North Carolina segregated worship service in the early 1960's WITHOUT the traditional invitation hymn. He let his church know that until the church was open to everybody, it shouldn't be open to anybody.

The church immediately called a business meeting, and voted to integrate the church.

Broadway now faces a similar issue.

So does my family.

We had an impromptu family business meeting last night, and decided that if our gay friends can't be in the church directory, we're not going to be in the church directory.

That's as far from the "fence" as we can get, and still be members.

P.S. - Ironically, Cecil Sherman preached the only anti-gay sermon I've ever heard....

Broadway Baptist Church is one of the most historic congregations in the Baptist General Convention of Texas. BBC was the home to John Claypool from 1971-1976, Welton Gaddy from 1977-1983 and Cecil Sherman from 1985 to 1982. Throughout the SBC Controversy, Sherman was one of the most outspoken voices on the moderate side. He helped form the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and became the CBF's first Executive-Director in 1992.

Another historical tidbit - William Douglas Hudgins pastored Broadway Baptist from 1936-1942. Hudgins was a main character in Charles Marsh's award-winning God's Long Summer where he hid behind certain Baptist doctrines to avoid taking a stand against the activities of the Ku Klux Klan.